Steady growth at HHLA

Container volumes increased by 2.6% at Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) in the first quarter of 2018, driven by growth in Asian traffic.

An 8.9% rise in Asian traffic was partially offset by a lower share in feeder traffic and higher storage fees, with revenue increasing moderately by 4.9% to €192m (US$227m).

Angela Titzrath, chairwoman of HHLA’s executive board, said: “We intend to invest more than €1bn (US$1.2bn) over the next five years in order to strengthen our Hamburg location and to continually
expand our intermodal network.”

She noted that the company has set up a process to help select and evaluate potential value-adding acquisition targets.

One of the first results of this process is the acquisition of the largest terminal operator in Estonia, Transiidikeskuse AS in the port of Muuga.

“With the acquisition of this high-performance company, which is due to be completed by the end of the second quarter, HHLA will become the market leader for container handling in one of the fastest growing economies in Europe,” added Titzrath.

In the intermodal segment, container transport declined by 5.3% due to scheduled realignment of Polzug’s activities as part of its integration into the Metrans organisation.

Revenue performed better, with a minimal decline of 0.1 % resulting from a larger rail share and longer transport distances.

HHLA expects container throughput this year to remain similar to 2017’s figures while container transport volume is also forecast to remain at a similar level as Polish intermodal traffic is being realigned in the course of its integration into Metrans.